


If You And I Met

by Izupie



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Eva is such a mom, Eva meets Nero, F/M, Gen, Nero has very little chill, Spirits, Talking, Witch!Eva, but he holds the Sparda braincell, like this started as a small thing but they wouldnt stop talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21853603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izupie/pseuds/Izupie
Summary: Nero considers Kyrie his family, of course, but he's keenly aware that there's nobody on earth who shares his blood, and he's struggling to understand his conflicting feelings of loss and belonging. Luckily there's someone out there who's been dying to meet him - ready to offer her unique kind of help. It's just a shame she's already dead.
Relationships: Dante & Eva & Vergil (Devil May Cry), Eva & Nero (Devil May Cry), Kyrie/Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 102





	If You And I Met

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came from a post by @sevi007 on tumblr~
> 
> I intended on it being a small snippet of conversation and then I just couldn't stop writing! Please take this bucket full of Eva headcanons.  
> I've read a few fics where Eva was a witch and a devil hunter, and I am all about that.
> 
> Nero is really hard to write, I hope I got him okay! Also I should probably mention it's been a hot minute since I played DMC or really got into the lore, so hopefully I haven't just completely ruined the canon~

By the time Nero wriggled into their bed he was aware that the sun would rise in a few short hours, but despite his aching, weary limbs he was determined to enjoy this brief moment with his girlfriend. Her auburn hair was always left loose in bed and he gently pushed it back from her face as he wound his arms around Kyrie’s waist and buried his nose into the soft skin between her neck and her shoulder, breathing deeply. She stirred slightly with a contented sigh and placed both of her hands over his.

“You smell good,” she whispered sleepily, leaning her head back to give him a light kiss on the cheek.

Nero laughed. “You wouldn’t have said that about an hour ago.”

He’d gotten especially good at sneaking back into the house after a demon hunt and showering off the grime and blood from the demons he’d killed, then cleaning down the whole bathroom afterwards – all while Kyrie was still sleeping.

He’d stripped off his dirty clothes and gear in the garage, but they could wait.

Nero knew he was still shower-warm, and a little damp, and he loved the way she pressed herself into his embrace to soak up the warmth – he happily obliged and held her completely flush against him; her back nestled into his front. He kissed her neck and he could feel her slow pulse beneath his lips. Kyrie’s scent, her pulse, the feel of her in his arms… it was grounding. He was both Nero the demon hunter; fearlessly (recklessly) revelling in the thrill of battle, the buzz of his demon powers under his skin and the revving of his sword as it sliced through demon flesh, but he was also Nero the boyfriend; who tenderly kissed his perfect girlfriend’s neck, lived for the feel of her soft skin beneath his (human) hands, whispered ‘I love you’s through the darkness to her and cleaned demon gore out of the base of the shower because she worked hard to keep the house clean and he didn’t want to disappoint her.

He wasn’t sure how he had ended up walking the thin line between both worlds, but sometimes it felt like a tiny tip in either direction would destroy the balance he had.

Kyrie held onto his hands tightly. (Her gentle hands that had never even held a weapon.)

Nero slid his fingers between hers, entwining them. He didn’t want to tell her that it was getting harder to transform his right arm back into human flesh after his hunts. He was using his demonic powers more readily now; it gave him the strength to do anything, but every time he used his devil trigger the arm that had once been the devil bringer would stay grey and scaled and clawed until he focused enough energy to turn it back. Was it because he was using his powers too much? He was worried that one day it wouldn’t change back at all, and he’d be stuck with a demon arm again. Kyrie didn’t deserve that.

“You’re frowning, Nero,” Kyrie mumbled.

“What?”

“I can feel it on my neck. What happened? You’re okay, aren’t you?”

Nero couldn’t see her, with her head facing away from him, but he could hear the concern thick in her voice.

“Yeah… Yeah I’m okay, baby.”

“Are you sure? It was a longer hunt than usual, is everything… alright?”

Nero let out a huff that was half amusement, half resignation. He could never hide anything from her. He’d tried, but she always found out in the end. Even when it was something ridiculous like when he’d accidentally knocked over one of her favourite vases in the hallway after he’d come back from a hunt one night. She’d told him that he had a guilty line between his eyebrows, and had pressed her fingertip there on and off throughout the day with a knowing smile, like all she had to do was wait it out and he’d cave and confess.

She was right, of course.

“Just demon things,” Nero eventually admitted softly, “y’know I actually wish those idiot brothers were still around so I could talk to ‘em about it.”

 _What?_ He hadn’t meant to say that at all. Where did that come from?

“Mm,” Kyrie hummed in agreement, but the sound was like a confirmation of something deeper. “Your family.”

“Fuck ‘em.” Nero gritted his teeth and felt his frown intensify. “My real family’s right here.”

Kyrie shuffled in his embrace, so he let his grip loosen to let her turn around to face him. He had no problem seeing the concern sharpening her gentle features, his part demon heritage gave him incredible night-vision, but he could see her eyes roaming across his face in the darkness, trying to make out his expression. She cupped his cheek with her hand.

“It’s okay to miss them, they’re part of your blood, Nero.” Kyrie whispered, knowing the topic still left him feeling emotionally conflicted. “But please, if you’re worried- I want you to know that I’ll listen. I mean, I know I can’t really do anything to help but-”

Nero scoffed. “Kyrie. You help me all the time. Seriously, just by being here- I couldn’t have done any of this without you.” He rested his forehead against hers and breathed her scent in deeply. “I love you- y’know that right? And I never want to hear you say that you don’t do anything to help me.” His voice was rougher than he intended, all raw emotion and exposed edges in the darkness, but he meant every word.

She used the hand still on Nero’s cheek to guide their mouths together, giving him a light gentle kiss. Her lips were smiling against his and her voice was full of affection when she replied, “I love you too. Always. I just want you to know that you can tell me if you’re worried about anything. We can talk about it.”

Nero hesitated too long. He knew it would be obvious he was keeping something from her. He sighed. “Tomorrow,” he promised, “we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“I’ll always be here for you. No matter what.” Kyrie kissed his nose.

“That’s all I need,” Nero breathed, pulling her close to his chest again.

Kyrie snuggled into his arms and whispered so softly that she almost lost the words in her breath, “They’ll come back you know.”

“Yeah? Who will?”

“Mm. Your father. Your uncle. They’ll come back for you.”

Nero let out one bitter laugh as a snort out of his nose. It still felt weird to consider them like that. “Y’sure?”

Her breathing had evened out and slowed so much that Nero thought she’d fallen asleep, but she murmured a gentle, “Women’s intuition,” and he had to stop himself from laughing in case it woke her up.

His uncle and his… father… _The Sparda family_ …

Nero’s overwhelming love for Kyrie and his confusing, fragile love for his newly discovered family warmed his chest as he felt himself finally drift off into sleep.

*

*

*

When Nero opened his eyes, it felt clear that he was dreaming. He was fully clothed, it was daytime, and he was sitting on a swing, holding the metal chains tightly. Beside the swing set was a silver slide and a brightly painted climbing frame in a mixture of red and blue. He looked around but the little park was surrounded by endless bright green grass as far as he could see. No trees. No buildings. No roads. Just blue sky and green grass and the child’s play park equipment. It didn’t bother him as much as he felt it should.

“Hello, Nero.” A voice spoke gently from the other swing and made him jump.

Nero had always been able to sense the presence of others, so it threw him off that someone had caught him unaware. His head whipped around to the woman now sitting in the swing beside him. “What the- _Trish?_ What are you…”

The woman was so tall that it should have been strange to see her in such a tiny swing, but it only accentuated her long legs as she crossed them over and leaned forward, holding the chains either side of her like he was. She smiled and her whole face brightened. “No, but I can see why you’d make the mistake.”

Her long blonde hair was pushed over one shoulder and her dress was very clearly not something Trish would wear. Too conservative. Not enough skin on show. Nero knew that Trish had been created to clone the appearance of Dante’s mom. So that meant…

“You’re, uh- no way… Can’t be. It’s not possible.” His brow furrowed so hard that he knew there’d be deep lines on his forehead.

“Says the son of a half-demon,” the woman said playfully. “Grandson of the great demon knight Sparda.”

“Shit,” Nero muttered. “What the hell.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You can’t be...”

She nodded her head with barely concealed excitement. “Look, I know what you’re thinking...” She made a calming motion with her hands before a string of loud curses could escape his lips. “But I swear, this isn’t a dream.” She pursed her lips. “Or, well, it _is_ a dream. But not in the way that makes it not real.”

Nero took a deep breath and ran a hand through his short hair. “Shit. Really? You’re Dante and Vergil’s…? My…?”

“I’m Eva. It’s nice to meet you, grandson.” Eva reached an elegant hand over, offering for Nero to shake.

He left it hanging.

Her smile was undeterred, and she lunged up to ruffle his hair with her ignored hand instead. He ducked his head away out of her reach with a spluttered curse.

“Oh, Sparda was right,” she said with a twinkling laugh, “just like an angry kitten.”

“Hey, fu-”

“-Language,” Eva chastised, as she sat back down.

If Nero had any suspicions that this was some kind of trick – that the woman sitting beside him wasn’t really his grandmother – her voice easily betrayed the kind of power that she was concealing inside; power enough to be a legendary demon knight’s wife and the mom of two half-demon idiot twins.

He’d not had a mom growing up, but he could sense that instinctive urge to obey her that the one simple reprimand had struck into him. Something older and more powerful than any demon powers out there. The bonds of family. Or obeying the lady with the mom-voice.

Her hands were folded in her lap and she threw him another smile.

 _His_ grandmother… _His_ family…

Nero thought he heard the faint sounds of children’s laughter in the still air, but it disappeared before he could really register it. _What was that?_

He shook his head again. “How’s this happening?”

Eva waved a vague hand in the air. “Magic.”

Nero felt his eyebrows pull down even further.

“What?” she laughed. “You don’t believe in magic?”

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit-” (she clicked her tongue at his cursing) “-but it’s always been down to demonic powers. Always. Pulling a rabbit out of a hat? Nah. I’m not buying it.”

Eva looked around pointedly and Nero found himself following her gaze without realising it, not feeling the urge to keep an eye on her as if she was threat. Nothing about her set any of his demonic senses off, and everything about the park and the grass looked the same as before. Except he could swear that he heard the children’s laughter again.

“I don’t see any rabbits,” Eva whispered loudly after a long pause.

Nero cursed loudly with a scowl and made to get off the swing until she reached over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, a playful smile on her lips. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

He settled back onto the plastic seat and felt some of the fight leave him as her expression softened. “I’m sorry for hijacking you like this. I know it must be confusing.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I don’t believe in magic or _ghosts_.”

Eva sighed deeply and looked across at the other equipment, her hands gripping onto each other tightly in her lap. Her lips thinned into a pained line.

Nero blinked. “Oh, shi- sorry. Uh…” He’d never met a dead person, but he assumed talking about them being dead was a bit of a sore subject, no matter how long ago it was.

She shook her head and closed her eyes. “No, it’s okay. I know.”

“So… you are a… ghost?” His voice was softer than he intended, filled with a childish curiosity he just couldn’t squash.

Eva snorted and laughed loudly, the hand that came up to cover her mouth did nothing to offset the undignified laughter bubbling out of her, and she nearly doubled over on her swing. Nero was reminded intensely of Dante.

“I know,” she repeated, when she’d regained her composure, “because it’s already happened. _And_ it’s still yet to happen.” The measured way she refolded her hands into her lap reminded Nero of Vergil, and the quirk of her lips after her maddeningly riddle-like words made him think suddenly of V.

“What?” Nero finally choked out.

“That’s the funny thing about time,” she said brightly, as if that explained anything.

“That’s really-” Nero sighed with frustration, the sound nearly a growl, and he slumped slightly in his seat. “At least I know where V got it from. Okay, I’ll bite. If this is really happening, just tell me this: if I’m here, is Kyrie okay?”

“Yes, of course, it’s just a dream. You’re still there with her right now. You could wake up, if you wanted to.” There was a hesitant hitch in her voice, and it struck Nero that if this was really happening then this really was his blood-related grandmother. Sitting right there. He’d been involved in a lot of shit that shouldn’t be possible, what was one more to add to the list?

Nero thought he could hear faint voices within the children’s laughter that bubbled back into existence briefly, but it was so quiet that he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“So, magic’s real now too? I probably shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Magic is fickle at the best of times but add time into the mix and it all gets a little…” Eva let her voice trail away and waved both hands in the air. “Being here with you right now, I’m both the me I was _and_ whatever’s left of me.”

“Huh.” Nero said. Not that it made any damn sense. “Then why the visit now?”

“It was time. I heard your conflicted soul, and here I am.”

Nero scowled again, feeling himself bristle at the implication of weakness.

“Don’t be a baby about it,” Eva said gently with a small smile.

“I’m not!”

“Look, families are there for each other. But also… I admit, I was just dying to meet you,” she added in an excited voice, “I’d seen you in flashes of the future before, but I’m so happy we got to meet face to face. I’m only sad the rest of the family can’t be here.”

Nero heard more of the children’s laughter and he rubbed his ears as he looked about at the empty landscape angrily. _Seriously, what was that?_ “Yeah, could have been one big happy Sparda family reunion.”

“Wouldn’t that have been nice,” she sighed.

Nero wasn’t sure if she was purposefully ignoring his biting tone or if she just hadn’t realised that he was being half-sarcastic. (He didn’t want to admit to himself that being only half-sarcastic meant he was also half-serious.)

“Things in this family have never run smoothly, Nero, and I’m sorry about everything that’s happened to you.” Eva leaned over and placed a hesitant, gentle hand on his arm. “But here you are, and you’ve grown up into such a wonderful man, despite all the hardships you’ve faced.”

“Hardships…” Nero rolled the word around on his tongue. “Yeah, you could call it that.” In no way did that one word even begin to sum up the pain he had faced, but he could appreciate her sentiment – especially when she looked at him with so much pain twisting her beautiful face.

“I want you to know that even though I’m not there, and even if you feel absolutely nothing towards me, I’m still part of your blood and I’ll be with you always. Right here.” Eva’s eyes shone with sadness as she pointed to his chest. “I love you, and it breaks my heart that I couldn’t- I can’t be there for you. That I wasn’t there for my poor sons.”

Nero realised he was gripping the swing chain so hard that the links were groaning beneath his hands. He wasn’t sure what to do about the emotions that swirled in his chest; something warm was swelling within him but he also felt his grandmother’s pain reverberate with his own.

“I just wish we could have met under less ghostly circumstances. It’s all very much something out of an old gothic fairy tale, isn’t it? Typical for this family.” There was mischief and love ringing in Eva’s voice, and Nero realised she reminded him of both twins all at once, as if both brothers had latched onto a different facet of her personality and emulated it wholeheartedly. She seemed infuriatingly fun and serious at the same time, able to switch between the two effortlessly and unpredictably.

The thought stirred the warm affection in his chest, tugging on the familial bonds he felt wrapped around his heart. He wondered if he was like her in any way, or if he was like the grandfather he’d never met.

Nero rolled his shoulders and leaned back on the swing. “Do not start quoting books at me,” he finally replied with a single snort of a laugh, thinking fondly of the thin, tattooed man he had once thought of as his friend. (Before he’d found out it had been sort-of-kind-of his dad all along. Man, that was still really fucked up no matter how many times he went over it in his head.) “I don’t think I could take any more of that.”

Eva laughed. “Oh, Nero. You give me so much hope for this family.”

“I mean, I’m the only one left with any sense so…”

“Can’t argue with you there.” Eva shook her head. “Listen, I can’t see exactly what happens, my magic doesn’t work like that, but I _feel_ a lot of love in your future, Nero. So much of it. A whole family full.” She gave him a playful smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes – just the same expression that he’d seen on Dante’s face before.

“A whole family full, huh?” He raised his eyebrows, but there was a fluttering in his stomach.

“She loves you, Nero. _All_ of you,” she said pointedly, her gaze flicking down to his outstretched arms.

The fluttering feeling increased and he rubbed his nose just for something to do with his hands.

“Oh, you’re even cuter in person,” Eva enthused, with another attempt to ruffle his hair. “You remind me so much of-”

“-Don’t say Vergil.”

“- _Both_ of them. I can see Sparda in you too. And I don’t just mean the white hair.”

Nero couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face before he could stop it.

Fucking idiot family.

There was a brief pause. A comfortable silence. Eva swung back and forth slightly, and the chains creaked with the movement. Children’s voices drifted in and out of clarity.

“They’ll come back you know,” Eva declared suddenly.

Nero blinked and shook his head. “Ugh, déjà vu. Why’s everyone think they’re just gonna magically walk back outta the underworld like they went out for some booze or something.”

“Because they’re Spardas,” she said simply. “They _will_ come back. Look, I know my sons, they won’t admit that they need help, even when they do, and then they’ll act like you’ve personally offended them just because you’ve tried to help them and it seems like you’ve wasted your time…” She crinkled her long nose and pursed her lips, as if reliving very specific memories. “But sometimes they’ll even thank you for it. Sometimes.”

Nero let out a huff of amusement. “Yeah, sounds just like that pair of assholes.”

Eva dissolved into laughter at his precocious smirk. “I’ll let you have that one,” she said once she’d regained composure, her eyes narrowed protectively, dangerously, but a smile still on her face. “You’re a good person, Nero. I want you to know that. And I want to thank you, for not letting them kill each other.”

Nero ducked his head down and stared at his feet. “I just… didn’t want to lose any more family.”

The children’s voices he’d been hearing were suddenly clearer, as if the tuning on a radio had finally caught the right station, and Nero realised he could make words out between the laughter: “I win!”

“You do not win, you- you- fool! Take it back!”

“Nuh-uh, you heard the rules, no take backs. Means I win.”

“I’ll tell mother on you…”

“Ugh you’re such a lame-face!”

“We have the same face!”

Nero looked around wildly for the source of the voices, but there were still only himself and Eva on the swings. She sighed as she caught him rubbing at his ears again and pushed herself to her feet. The swing creaked as her tall frame left the seat and she dusted the back of her dress absently. “I think our time is running very short.”

Eva held out a hand which Nero thought was to offer to help pull him up, but as he reached for it, she lunged forward and ruffled his hair with both hands instead.

“Gotcha! You are the cutest grandson ever, I swear.”

“Hey- fuck- get off me-” But he didn’t put up much of a fight.

Eva pulled away with another twinkling laugh and she let him scramble to his feet. “I’m glad I got to meet you, Nero. You’ve got a kind heart under that scrappy front you put up – like all the males in this family. Cherish the love in your soul and know that you have people out there who care about you as much as you care for them, and that you can lean on them for support, you know. Alive or dead.”

Nero thought of his phone call to Kyrie when he was undecided and confused, and how her support had helped him to unlock his true devil trigger, and he thought of Kyrie currently asleep in their bed, warm and gentle and kind. He pushed his bristling pride aside, wishing he didn’t get so bashful at the mention of love, and he nodded. “I will.”

“I knew you’d say that. When those sons of mine get back you make sure you sit down and all talk it out, okay? That’s what families do.”

Nero laughed and grinned, wondering what the three of them sitting down and talking about their emotions would look like. It was an image he couldn’t even imagine without a fight breaking out, but, really, as long as they didn’t kill each other it would be fine. “Thanks for the pep-talk, _grandma._ ”

“Oh, no, no, no. That makes me sound horribly old.” Eva shook her head, but she was smiling the widest he’d seen. She opened her arms and Nero only hesitated for a moment before he stiffly walked forwards into her hug, though he relaxed into her embrace as she squeezed him tight. He idly wondered if it was what hugging his own mom would have felt like; something like home, protection and being loved unconditionally. No wonder Dante and Vergil had loved her so much.

She gave him one last squeeze and whispered, “Oh, you’re adorable. _Adorable._ ”

It was enough to make him bashful and awkward again, so he took a few steps back and cleared his throat loudly, shuffling his feet.

“It was so good to meet you,” Eva said again with a smile. “Don’t give up on them. Keep letting people in.”

Nero opened his mouth to reply, but he seemed to blink for just a little too long and the whole park was bathed in darkness like someone had turned the lights off. The park itself was still the same, but the empty void around them had been replaced with roads and buildings and a path that lead up to the equipment. A moon hung in the clear inky sky and Nero could hear the distant sounds of cars.

Eva gave him one last long look, with an expression that seemed to convey all the love she had in her, then she turned away and opened her arms towards the climbing frame. “Hey, hey, boys, why are we arguing? Is it about who’s going to hug me first?”

Nero looked up to see two children leap from the top of the metal frame and land lightly on their feet. Both had short white hair, but one was wearing a blue jacket and the other a red jacket. They raced forwards into Eva’s arms and clung to her as she ruffled the tops of their heads.

“Dante was being mean. He said that he’d beat me to the top of the climbing frame, but he didn’t! He didn’t!”

“You’re such a liar Verge!”

“Am not! I’ve always been faster than you!”

“Boys, boys,” Eva interrupted as their young voices rose shrilly, “why does everything have to be a competition with the two of you, huh? You’re brothers. You should be helping each other to the top, not fighting over who can get there first.”

Both Sparda twins looked down to the ground sheepishly. Nero could barely process what he was seeing; Vergil and Dante as young children…

“Besides, I think we all know that if I was to join in on the race, I’d win. So, neither of you are the true champions of the climbing frame,” Eva boasted playfully in a grand voice.

Young Dante guffawed in a high-pitched laugh while young Vergil huffed. “But that’s not fair, you can teleport up there!”

“I don’t teleport, I just move so fast you can’t even see me – like a ninja.” Eva made a chopping motion in the air with her hand and Vergil giggled. “Maybe one day I’ll teach you. I bet you can both do it too.”

The twins gasped with excitement as Eva held both of their hands and the three of them began to make their way to the path that would lead them out of the park. “Time to go home first.”

“Hey, mom, when can we play with the other kids in the daytime?” Dante whined.

“When you can both stop accidentally activating your demon powers while you play, you silly goose.” Eva laughed as both twins groaned, but then Vergil suddenly stopped. “Vergil? Are you okay, honey?”

Nero flinched as Vergil turned around and stared straight at him. “Who were you talking to?”

Eva smiled knowingly. “Just a friend. Come on kids, I’ll make us all hot chocolate before bedtime.”

Vergil’s blue-eyed stare was unnerving, even as a child, and it made something odd prickle under Nero’s skin. Eventually he re-joined his brother and reached up to hold his mom’s hand again, and Nero could hear their chatter fading as they walked away from him, not able to stop the smile that lit up his face.

*

*

*

Sunlight warmed Nero’s eyelids as it woke him gently. He breathed in Kyrie’s scent and nuzzled his nose into her hair. She was still in his arms, their legs tangled together, and her gentle, even breathing tickled his neck.

He caressed her cheek with a touch that was so feather soft she didn’t even stir. The churning in his stomach was gone. His hand was a perfect human peachy pink, but he knew without a doubt that if it was a demon claw there instead, Kyrie would feel the same about him.

“I love you,” he murmured thickly into her hair, “and you’re right – they’ll come back. My asshole uncle and my asshole dad. _Our_ family. I’ll knock some sense into them when they do.”

The Sparda family, both living and dead, were a part of him – and for the first time ever, he was glad of it and who he was.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually rewrote this twice, bar a small bit of conversation in the middle, and I am so so glad to finally post it. Please let me know what you think! Or throw me a message on my tumblr [@Izupie](https://izupie.tumblr.com/). Thanks guys!


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